Egypt orders trial for US-based Copts behind anti-Islam film

Egyptian protesters condemn a US-made film mocking the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) during a demonstration in Alexandria on September 14, 2012.

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Egypt has ordered seven US-based Egyptian Copts be tried for their involvement in an anti-Islam movie that sparked angry protests around the world.
The Egyptian public prosecutor’s office announced the decision on Tuesday but stopped short of setting a trial date.
The prosecution charged Adel Riad, Morris Sadek, Nabil Bissada, Esmat Zaklama, Elia Bassily, Ihab Yaacoub and Jack Atallah with "insulting the Islamic religion, insulting the Prophet (Mohammad) and inciting sectarian strife."
It said the seven were involved in either the production or the distribution of the blasphemous film "Innocence of Muslims,” which mocks the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and attempts to depict Islam as an oppressive religion.
Anti-US demonstrations, which erupted on September 11, have been raging across the Muslim world, with protesters storming US embassies and torching US flags.
Enraged protesters in Iran, Turkey, Sudan, Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kashmir, Pakistan, India, Iraq, Gaza, Morocco, Syria, Kuwait, Nigeria, Kenya, Australia, Britain, the United States, France, Belgium, and some other countries have held many demonstrations to condemn the sacrilegious movie.
Meanswhile, the grand imam of Cairo's al-Azhar Islamic University has called on the United Nations to pass a resolution to ban all forms of attacks against Islam and other religions.
Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb urged the world body to comply with its responsibility to "protect world peace from any threat or aggression," so that "these dangerous events cannot recur."
MRS/JR